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tv   Early Today  NBC  June 22, 2011 4:00am-4:30am PDT

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this morning on "early today" winding down. new details on president obama's plan to withdraw thousands of troops from afghanistan. wrong place, wrong time. surveillance video captures a horrific hit-and-run accident at a convenience store. and sparks fly. things get out of hand during an employee altercation at a things get out of hand during an employee altercation at a fireworks stand. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with coming home. this evening military families
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are expected to get some welcome news from president obama. in a primetime speech from the white house, he is expected to announce his plans to start winding down the nearly decade-long u.s. mission in afghanistan. for more on that we go to nbc's tracie potts. she's in washington for us. >> everyone wants to know what are the numbers tonight. we believe that he'll say 5,000 troops will come home in july, another 5,000 either by the end of the year or possibly late spring. the rest of the troop surge, the remainder of the 30,000 troops he sent to afghanistan could come home, according to some source, by the end of next year. some on capitol hill here say that is not fast enough. some very conservative republicans have teamed up with liberal democrats, almost 60 of them, sending the president a letter saying we need to speed this up. half of the troops should come home, some say, by the end of
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this year. but military commanders have warned the president not to have this drawdown happen too quickly. it could embolden the enemy. he's facing pressure from all sides and the public. public support for brig all the troops home quickly according to one recent poll, 56%. >> tracie potts there for us in washington. thank you. nbc news will have live coverage of the president's address to the nation beginning at 5:00 p.m. pacific time right here on your nbc station. the republican field of presidential hopefuls got a little more crowded. yesterday former utah governor jon huntsman said he's officially joining the 2012 race for the white house. he made his announcement with the backdrop of the statue of liberty, the same setting used by former president ronald reagan to launch his 1980 campaign. in announcing his bid, huntsman, who served as ambassador to china under president obama,
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promised supporters his campaign will be a civil one. as one republican campaign officially begins, another has hit yet more snags. yesterday two of newt gingrich's top finance fund-raising advisers resigned, joining 16 other staffers who bo s who bou earlier this month. the latest pair to depart says gingrich has racked up over a million dollars in debt during his campaign. meanwhile, gingrich had a second line of credit at the jewelry store tiffany for as much as a million dollar, which a gingrich spokesman says has zero balance and has been closed. this comes after a recent revelation that gingrich and his wife once owed up to half a million dollars to the luxury store. the "wall street journal" is reporting a congressional ethics panel is investigating allegations congressman al c. hastings sexually harassed a member of his staff.
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the "journal" says the probe into the florida democrat began after a conservative group filed a lawsuit on behalf of a republican staffer who was on a commission that hastings headed. she claimed she had been sexually harassed by hastings and that he retaliated when she tried to report it. the suit was filed in march. hastings denied the allegations. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a surveillance camera captured a horrific hit and run accident. the victim did survive. police are now looking for the driver with the help of that passenger seen leaving the scene. one motorist in michigan could barely see over the steering wheel, but that didn't stop police on a dramatic pursuit. the boy took his stepfather's
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car while his mom was sleeping, hitting speeds as high as 50 miles per hour trying to drive to his biological father's house. police eventually boxed the boy in, forcing him to pull over without incident. a lover's spat at an orlando fireworks stand led to an eruption of sparkling explosions. an employee, angered over his fight with his girlfriend, began lighting firework and directing them at co-workers. the exploding fireworks didn't harm anyone, but police did arrest the employee on arson and battery charges. and, finally, in times square, new yorkers rolled out their yoga mats to welcome the first day of summer. thousands took part in a series of free yoga classes offered to celebrate the summer solstice. for many the massive yoga event produced a much-needed moment of peace and serenity in the busy city. for a look at your national and regional weather, here is bill karins with the weather forecast. >> i could use the time.
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>> why not? times square. >> not being sarcastic at all. >> you, sarcasm, really? >> i'm not going to offend everyone who does yoga, am i? the heat has been the top story. now it's shifted to the southwest. yesterday was 109 in phoenix. we didn't get that warm in l.a. only about 80 degrees, but once you went interior california, it was very warm. a beautiful 86 in san francisco. as far as the pacific northwest goes, you still have a cooler flow. warm in medford, but portland, upper 70s, low 80s, we'll take it. today even warmer in the desert southwest. there's nothing going on here. there's barely even clouds to talk about. an onshore flow with pressure off the canadian coast. this high pressure will keep it nice and hot and steamy here in
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southern california. 113 in phoenix. we had heat warnings in effect for some areas and advisories, 110 in vegas. 90 in medford. updated forecast on tomorrow coming up. >> bill, thanks so much. also coming up, hope for greek dead. blackberry's maker finally enjoys a day in the sun. and a flashy car helps a guy with the ladies. plus hugh hefner lets his ex-fiance keep almost everything he gave her. but you might not believe what he did want her to give back.
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an emotional return for serena williams. a ball a beer and one thirsty fan.
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good morning. and welcomeback to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of the top headlines this morning. the associated press said that president obama laid out directions on how far they can go in preventing cyberattacks. the orders which cap a two-year effort by the pentagon to draft rules for cyberwarfare are said to detail when the military must seek presidential approval for a specific cyber assault on an enemy. mexican authorities say they've apprehended one of the country's most wanted drug lords. the leader of the la familia drug cartel. mexico's president called the arrest a big blow to organized crime. a brief but historic meeting in south africa yesterday as first lady michelle obama and
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her daughters met with nelson mandela. the 92-year-old freedom fighter spent 20 minutes with the first lady showing her his new book. astronaut mark kelly announced he's retiring from the military to be with his wife, congresswoman gabrielle giffords, as she recovers from a gunshot wound. they plan to write a memoir about their careers, their courtship and the deadly shootings. a stradivarius violin has sold for a record $15.9 million in an online auction. it was donated by a japanese music foundation to raise money for victims of march's earthquake and tsunami disaster. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12190 after adding 109 points yesterday. the s&p was up 17, nasdaq gained 57. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, the tokyo the nikkei raised 169, the hang
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seng nudged up 9. growing hopes greece will avoid default led stocks to a fourth straight gain on tuesday. the nasdaq had its biggest percentage jump and the s&p 500 had its best day in two months. still traders wonder, have stocks regained their luster or is this just a run of short-term buying? regardless, tuesday wall street swaggered thanks to confidence greece's austerity minded prime minister would survive a no-confidence vote, which he eventually did, a vital step toward ending the crisis. traders shrugged off negative news. sales of previously owned homes hit a six-month low in may. the nasdaq eked into the black for 2011 led by research in motion. the struggling blackberrimaker gained over 10% after a steep fall monday. still shares have lost roughly
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half their value and speculation squirrels r.i.m. may be bought by microsoft. wal green's fell after failing to renew a deal with express scripts. barnes & noble stock fell from competition at rival borders. they'll settle charges it misled investors in mortgage security deals. later today the fed concludes its two-day meeting. it's expected they'll keep interest rates low and turn down another round of economy boosting bond buying. finally, a recent study confirms an old truism. women indeed are attracted to men who drive flashy cars and wear expensive clothes but only if they are looking for a short-term relationship, not if they are looking for a husband. then we don't mind the ratty t-shirts, apparently. coming up, the nats mount a big comeback.
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and serena's tearful return to tennis. plus a red sox fan enjoys his beer with a foul ball chaser. we continue to watch severe thunderstorms and rain. we love the rain in texas.
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good morning. the you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night the phillies proved st. louis cardinals fans' greatest fear. you lose a bit of your mojo when you lose the game's best player to injury. here's nbc's fred rogan with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. a full slate of baseball games around the league, and let's get right to it. we'll start in st. louis where life without albert pujols began for the cards. if this is how it's good to be, the cards need some life insurance. the phils scored nine runs and rallied to win it 10-2. they say everything is bigger in texas, so it's only fitting the astros and rangers would play the longest game of the night. mitch moreland finally ended it with a game winning homer. the rangers had a 5-4 win. from the longest game to the biggest comeback. mariners down in the ninth. down but not out, the nationals won it 6-5. wasn't a walkoff but pretty
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close. indians and rockies tied at 3, seth smith changed all that with one swing. colorado won it 4-3. after a year away from the game, serena williams made an emotional return to tins. given what she's been through, it's easy to understand why. two foot operations and treatment for blood clots in your lungs, i'd say it's been a tough year. but she's healthy again. she did her best to hold back tears of joy after winning her first match. but in the end, her emotions got the best of her. >> i love tennis. and to be able to come back at wimbledon is pretty awesome, and, you know, i didn't expect to play, and he didn't expect to even do anything, so this is -- this is just -- i'm just excited. i never cry with joy for anything, so -- >> finally back to the diamond for the catch of the day. no luck needed. just a plastic cup. a foul ball bounced around and into a full cup of beer. suds went flying, and the guy got drenched. didn't seem to mind, though. he was actually happy about the
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whole thing. you're probably wondering did he drink the rest of the beer after that? oh, yeah. this bud's for you. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred rogan. >> bet that beer never tasted so good. well, you'll want to see lady gaga's latest look for her arrival in japan. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus if you think all today's kids know how to do is play video game, have we got a story for you.
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welcome back. pretty simple forecast for everyone on the western coast, we'll see beautiful sunshine in so many areas. boise starting to heat it up, too, 93 today. but really hot stuff in the southwest. dangerous there. still cooler in l.a. than you like, but once you move away from the water, it will warm up quickly. showery weather for portland and seattle. if you're watching us on kget, nbc 17 bakersfield, california, go ahead and embrace your inner artist. learn painting techniques at the library. >> i prefer art in the morning, but that's fine. >> i prefer fingerpainting. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. with the exception of red nail polish lady gaga's tokyo arrival
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was green themed. literally green from head to toe. she was greeted by hundreds of fans arriving for a charity music event for victims of japan's quake-tsunami disaster. well, deadline.com reports "mad men's" jon hamm signed a new three-year, eight-figure deal. and it's going to make him one of cable's highest paid stars. well, megan fox will not be in the next "transformers" movie, but she's landed a cameo in sacha baron cohen's next film. "the dictator" shooting now in new york. the movie based in part on a book by saddam hussein, also stars ben kingsley and anna phares. finally, crystal harris may have jilted hugh hefner five days before their wedding, but she visited hefner to return her $90,000 karat ring, a bentley and his dog charlie. hefner told her to keep the ring
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and the bentley but please bring my spaniel back. she did. this comes to us from nbc 40 news in atlantic city, new jersey, where a nearby wildwood one group of kids hit the pause button on their video games for old-fashioned fun in the sun. 40 boys and girls traveled to the jersey shore to compete in the 88th annual national marbles tournament. the young sharpshooters will wage intense battles on the beach over the next two days with the winners taking home $2,000 scholarships and bragging rights in playgrounds across the country. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.
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some say sushi isn't that filling. i bet they've never had this roll. a mall in hong kong prepared 118 foot long sushi roll at a crowded shopping mall. it took 100 chefs and a 66 pound yellow fin tuna to complete. the idea is to promote japanese cuisine and the local food industry as a whole which has been hit hard by fierce of radiation leaks at japan's nuclear plant. one penguin could certainly have used a gps. native to antarctica, this 10-month-old emperor penguin swam thousands of miles in the wrong direction and wond up in a beach in new zealand. the flightless bird was discovered by a woman walking
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her dog. experts think it got lost while hunting for food and must find its way 2,000 miles back home to survive. one ape in china is downright lovesick. zookeepers separated this orangutan from his wife in order to keep the mother safe during her pregnancy. now it seems the father has become depressed. often lost in a daze and hardly touching his food. poor guy. experts plan on conducting psychological tests on the primate to see how they can help. you know, that never seems to happen to my husband when i'm out of town. he just goes into his man cave and watches sports. >> he just goes like this. >> no, it doesn't happen. he just orders pizza and watches sports. >> i can join him. >> it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. fashion designer john galliano will go on trial on charges he shouted racist insults at bar patrons in paris last february.
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galley anno was arrested in a drunken state and questioned about the anti-semitic slurs. he faces up to six months in jail. actress marlo thomas will accept the jefferson award for lifetime achievement for her outstanding contributions to society. she has worked with the st. jude children's hospital for 20 years founded by her father danny thomas which raised $700 million a year for pediatric cancer research. and happy birthday to meryl streep who turns 62. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. ann curry sits down with the latest addition to the republican presidential field, former utah governor jon huntsman. and a live report from south africa on the historic visit of first lady michelle obama and her daughters sasha and malia.
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now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thank you for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a

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